My
suspicion is that, like me, most of you want to know that after you die that
there is more to life after death than your personal existence. Your hope is that it is life after death with others, with the people you have loved in
this life. It is as much about reunion
as it is about not wanting to think that you might come to an end.
The
thing is that life after death was not a part of what the Sadducees
believed. When you died you died and you
returned to the dust from which you were made.
As Jesus comes closer to the final confrontation with the Temple
authorities I suspect the Sadducees ask Jesus this question to make a mockery
of the notion of resurrection. They also
want find out whether Jesus agrees with them or with the scribes, who believed in
resurrection.
Jesus’
response to the question, as is often the case, contains layers of meaning
which uncover some bigger concepts. Firstly, Jesus points to an intimacy of relationship
with one another that transcends any covenantal or biological relationships
that we have with one another in this life.
More than that, Jesus answer indicates our relationship with God is not
bound by life and death and, the implication is, nor are the relationships that
we have.
To
understand this a little better requires delving into the complex question that
the Sadducees ask and highlighting a few pertinent issues.
The
story that the Sadducees describe, with seven brothers successively dying and,
as they do so, passing the wife of the first brother on. This reflects a particular understanding of
women, of marriage and of perpetuating one’s existence.
In
the ancient world a woman, or a girl, was recognised as belonging to a man,
either a father or a husband. The law
about marrying the wife of a deceased brother when no child had been produced is,
in part, about the protection of a woman.
The brother almost inherits her as his responsibility. Yet, the issue of childlessness in the
question is important as well, and needs a bit of exploration.
For
the Sadducees and for earlier Jews, who did not have a belief in resurrection,
a man perpetuated his existence through his sons. I suspect this is one of the reasons that the
genealogies in the scriptures, as boring as they may sound to us, are so important. They represent the ongoing life of the
individuals, in the genealogy, through the next generation.
So,
here are two important things to note. Women
are the property of men to be passed on to be protected like assets. And, children produced through marriage create
the opportunity for an ongoing existence beyond death, even when there is no
resurrection.
The
question that the Sadducees are asking is quite nuanced because the situation
they are describing involve the transfer of a covenantal relationship as a way of
creating the opportunity for an ongoing existence without resurrection. That is to say
the aim of the brothers continuing this process of marrying this woman is about
giving the first brother a chance of ongoing existence by producing an heir.
If,
however, resurrection occurs, the question the Sadducees want to know is, ‘who
owns the woman now?’
All
of this sounds a bit strange to us because we do not view women or the covenant
of marriage in this way anymore. This
form of Biblical marriage described in this passage is not one that we hold on
to.
So,
what does Jesus do with this complex question? How does he answer the question concerning
women, marriage, death and resurrection?
There
are two parts to Jesus answer and both confront the Sadducees and possibly even
confound the Scribes as well.
In
the first part his answer Jesus says, “Those who are considered worthy of a
place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are
given in marriage.” The covenant of
marriage is located as an aspect of life in this world. After we die, if we
live in the resurrection, marriage is no longer required.
I
do not think Jesus is devaluing marriage in this life or the relationships that
we forge in this way. Rather, it is my
feeling that Jesus is saying that, in the resurrection life there is no need to
protect women through marriage nor to produce heirs to perpetuate your
existence. If this is the case then the covenant
of marriage ceases to carry its original intent. Marriage is obsolete.
Why? The intimacy of relationships in the
resurrected life, with God and with each other, somehow transcends both the
biological and covenantal ties we make during our limited earthly span.
When
we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “your kingdom come on earth now as in heaven,” we
express a desire to begin to enter into the realm of those relationships now. Jesus himself, when he is told his mother and
brothers are outside, indicates that those around him are his mother and brothers. We also know that there is a long history in
the church of baptised people calling each other brother and sister. It has especially been a feature of monastic
communities and of the Anabaptist communities.
This
is not to say we are not going to see our loved ones but rather I think
indicates a new and transformed intimacy with them. Of course, none of us have been beyond the
boundary of death to understand or encounter any of this. This is all a matter of faith. Yet Jesus words appear to indicate that the
need for marriage disappears in resurrection life even though the relationship might
continue in a richer and more divine way.
Which
brings me to Jesus second point. Jesus
takes his audience back to the story of the burning bush and indicates that God
“is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
For
to God all of them are alive!
Jesus’
assertion is that God relates to those who have died as if they are alive. Death does not diminish the relationship that
God has with them, anymore than our earthly existence could diminish God’s
relationship with us. There is no
barrier between life and death for God.
Many
people across the world celebrated the breaking down of the barriers between
life and death this week. Halloween, All
Souls Day, All Saints Day, and the Day of the Dead all express the translucence
of the barrier between the living and the dead. This week Lucy took a picture to school of
my mother who died nearly four years ago to share with her Spanish class as they
learnt about the Day of Dead.
These
celebrations, which are found all around the world, within and beyond the Christian
religion, do more than simply remember the dead but recognise an ongoing
presence and relationship with them.
Part
of the Christian teaching about death is that if we die in Christ we will also
rise with him. Our life and are death
are hidden in Christ, as we are joined with him through the power of the Holy
Spirit. The union that we have we Jesus
extends into a unity we have with one another, living and dead. Paul describes the cloud of witness, or
communion of saints, that gather around us as we traverse our way through life,
and as we celebrate our life in Christ together.
There
is a sense whenever we gather and enter into this space of worship we
surrounded by those whom we love and whose lives, like ours, were hidden in Christ. The Orthodox symbolise this beautifully in
the architecture of their buildings. If you
have the opportunity to go into somewhere like St Georges at West End I highly
recommend it.
What
you would see is this. In the centre of
the domed ceiling is an icon of Jesus, a painting. Jesus descending to be with
his people. Surrounding Jesus are his
disciples, then as you move down the walls Saints. The presence of Christ and the communion of saints
is visually represented in the imagery of the church building.
Given
this reflection on God being God of the living and relating to those who have
gone before and their presence with, this us has come to feel strongest for me as
we share in communion, Christ’s eternal feast, sharing bread and wine. From the very earliest days the church has
held to an understanding the Jesus is with us when we gather and that Jesus is
present in the elements of bread and wine. Though I may be physically presiding it is my conviction
that Jesus is our host.
A
few years back a woman in one of my congregations said she could still hear her
husband singing and had a sense of his presence as she worshipped. For me there was no questioning of this
experience it was an expression and witness of precisely what I have been
talking about. The communion of saints gathered.
Whilst
I have not had such a strong experience of what that person described I have
contemplated on this idea that alongside me in worship, but especially at the Eucharistic
feast, is my mother, my grandparents, loved members of congregations I have
been part of, the Wesley brothers, Luther, Calvin, Augustine, John Chrysostom, the
disciples and so on. The cloud of
witnesses gather with us. For God is the
God of the living.
Jesus
answer to the Sadducees tricky conundrum leads us into a challenging place of
mystery. God’s relationship with us transcends
any intimacy that we can know or express.
In the life to come as we become more like Jesus, that is to say more
like God, the intimacy of our relationships with each other will also be
expanded into new realms. Yet, as we
await the fullness of the intimacy, in this life our own relationships,
including marriage and children, help us to understand God’s love better. Finally, in our concern about those who have already
died we can find comfort in the knowledge that God relates to all as if they
are still alive.
Really great work. My head office is in West End and I really feel to go and visit the church there to see this outstanding visual that I now have. Really great sermon from a totally different angle to my own. I love how each of us see different things in what really is the Living Word as each of us is given a message to derive from it and share with those drawn in to hear it. Thank you for sharing this. Bonnie T.
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